In our fi​r​st ar​ti​cle of the “Tips for Sta​r​tup Bro​kers” se​ries - Tips for Sta​r​tup Bro​kers: Whe​re Do I Be​gin? we have ta​ken a look at the core ele​men​ts essen​tial to sta​r​ting your own bro​ke​ra​ge, and lea​r​nt the impo​r​tan​ce of having the ri​g​ht pla​tfo​rm, CRM, LP, PSP and we​bsi​te

Now it’s time to dive a li​ttle dee​per into the ele​men​ts, sta​r​ting with one of the most vi​tal ones - the pla​tfo​rm. Whi​ch que​stions shou​ld you ask you​r​se​lf be​fo​re choo​sing your pla​tfo​rm provi​der?

1. Whe​re do you need your pla​tfo​rm to be avai​la​ble?

The fast-pa​ced wo​r​ld we live in to​day di​cta​tes that tra​ders are more in need of univer​sal so​lu​tions than ever, choo​sing to be able to acce​ss their tra​ding spa​ce from any lo​ca​tion and devi​ce, as well as to have it in their po​cket for a co​mple​te on-the-go expe​rien​ce.

The​re​fo​re, it goes wi​thout sa​ying that idea​lly your pla​tfo​rm shou​ld be avai​la​ble on De​sktop, Web, IOS and An​d​roid for your clien​ts to choo​se from. Never​the​le​ss, even some of the most re​pu​ta​ble provi​ders may not offer web/mo​bi​le ver​sions or cha​r​ge ext​ra for them. cT​ra​der co​mes with an all-in​clu​sive pa​cka​ge at no ext​ra cost.

2. What li​mi​ta​tions does your pla​tfo​rm provi​der have?

Un​der​stan​ding the co​sts you may have to bear is vi​tal, espe​cia​lly when it co​mes to hi​dden ones. You have to ask you​r​se​lf: does your pla​tfo​rm provi​der cha​r​ge you ext​ra per accoun​ts, ma​na​gers or grou​ps? Nee​dle​ss to say, it’s in your best in​te​re​sts to pick a provi​der that su​ppo​r​ts un​li​mi​ted accoun​ts, grou​ps and symbo​ls, as not only is this fi​nan​cia​lly be​ne​fi​cial, but also he​lps you ma​na​ge your bu​si​ne​ss more effe​ctive​ly.

cT​ra​der Sui​te offers bro​kers an un​li​mi​ted amount of live/demo accoun​ts, grou​ps, ma​na​gers and even symbo​ls. We be​lieve the bro​ker shou​ld have all the too​ls to rea​ch their ma​xi​mum po​ten​tial from the very be​gin​ning.

3. What kind of su​ppo​rt does your pla​tfo​rm provi​der offer?

This is whe​re the di​stin​ction be​tween self-ho​sted and cloud-ba​sed pla​tfo​rm provi​ders co​mes in. Self-ho​sted provi​ders may grant you con​t​rol over the pla​tfo​rm, but this also means that you will be the one re​spon​si​ble for all the issues, as the pla​tfo​rm will be ho​sted di​re​ctly on your server. Any do​wn​ti​mes, gli​tches and other pro​ble​ms - it will be your re​spon​si​bi​li​ty to fix and bear the co​sts re​la​ted to ho​sting and main​te​nan​ce.

Cloud-ba​sed pla​tfo​r​ms, like cT​ra​der, on the other hand, have all main​te​nan​ce and ope​ra​tion de​le​ga​ted to the pla​tfo​rm provi​der, mea​ning you can leave your pla​tfo​rm in the han​ds of pro​fe​ssio​na​ls and fo​cus on other aspe​cts of run​ning your own bro​ke​ra​ge. From con​ne​ctivi​ty to pri​ce fee​ds and li​qui​di​ty se​tup - the en​ti​re co​mplex, co​stly and time-con​su​ming pro​ce​ss is up to us to take care of, whi​ch many in​ter​me​dia​ries find not only to be the best te​ch​ni​cal so​lu​tion, but also the most eco​no​mi​ca​lly via​ble, as the​se ope​ra​tions typi​ca​lly re​qui​re hi​g​hly-qua​li​fied (and hen​ce hi​g​hly-paid) exper​ts.

4. Whi​ch tra​ding mo​des and fea​tu​res does the pla​tfo​rm provi​de?

To appeal to all types of tra​ders, it’s best you offer a vast va​rie​ty of mo​des and fea​tu​res. A pla​tfo​rm provi​der that offers Ma​nual, Au​to​ma​ted (bots) and Copy tra​ding is a wise choi​ce to con​si​der for a la​r​ger client base.

When it co​mes to Au​to​ma​ted tra​ding, cT​ra​der Au​to​ma​te uses the C# pro​g​ra​mming lan​gua​ge, whi​ch is the most po​pu​lar and easy to lea​rn, hen​ce in​c​rea​sing your po​ten​tial cu​sto​mer base even fu​r​ther. As for copy tra​ding, cT​ra​der Copy gro​ws in po​pu​la​ri​ty, ma​king its pre​sen​ce in the cT​ra​der Sui​te - a ma​jor advan​ta​ge for clien​ts in sea​r​ch of an all-in​clu​sive bro​ke​ra​ge.

On the to​pic of all-in​clu​sivi​ty, a good pla​tfo​rm provi​der to​day also offers a so​lid eco​system with in​te​g​ra​ted thi​rd-pa​r​ty so​lu​tions, he​lpful to your tra​ders. Tra​ding Cen​t​ral si​g​na​ls, Au​to​cha​r​ti​st, pla​tfo​rm-in-bui​lt eco​no​mic ca​len​dar and many more are wo​r​th ta​king into account for a pro​fit-ma​xi​mi​zing offe​ring to your clien​ts.

5. Can you brand the pla​tfo​rm?

If you are loo​king to imp​rint your brand in the min​ds of tra​ders, the in​clu​sion of your name and logo may go a long way.

In​deed, bran​ded pla​tfo​r​ms are more di​stin​ctive and make sure bro​kers be​ne​fit from both lo​ya​lty and di​ffe​ren​tia​tion in the ma​r​ket. Pla​tfo​r​ms like cT​ra​der make it po​ssi​ble to have your co​mpany bran​ding wi​thin the web, de​sktop and mo​bi​le in​ter​fa​ces, provi​ding in​c​rea​sed brand va​lue for your bu​si​ne​ss - a fea​tu​re absent in the ma​jo​ri​ty of even the most well-kno​wn pla​tfo​rm provi​ders.

6. How long does it take for your pla​tfo​rm to be de​plo​yed?

De​pen​ding on when you want to get sta​r​ted, it’s cri​ti​cal to fi​gu​re out how long it will take for your pla​tfo​rm to come into full ope​ra​tion. A pla​tfo​rm that is fast to de​ploy, easy to in​te​g​ra​te and ult​ra-sca​la​ble, whi​le provi​ding the same high level of per​fo​r​man​ce and low la​ten​cy is li​ke​ly to be your nu​mber one choi​ce as a sta​rt-up bro​ker. cT​ra​der, for in​stan​ce, can be up and run​ning smoo​thly in as li​ttle as two wee​ks!

7. Is the back-offi​ce ma​na​ge​ment as co​mple​te as you wou​ld like it to be?

Your back-offi​ce ma​na​ge​ment is the “con​t​rol pa​nel” of your bu​si​ne​ss. The more con​t​rol and room for cu​sto​mi​za​tion you have - the more co​mplex and thou​g​ht-th​rou​gh de​ci​sions you can make, whi​le never lo​sing si​g​ht of the bi​g​ger, nea​tly-or​ga​ni​zed pi​ctu​re.

The​re​fo​re, it’s a good idea to ask you​r​se​lf: Does the pla​tfo​rm offer acce​ss to all accoun​ts in your boo​ks in a conve​nient and easy-to-ope​ra​te man​ner? Is the​re the option of se​tting di​ffe​rent ma​r​ku​ps and co​mmi​ssions, as well as to ma​na​ge A-Book/B-Book on a group level? Is it fi​tted with the ri​g​ht risk ma​na​ge​ment too​ls for you, such as con​fi​gu​ra​ble leve​ra​ge ru​les, mu​lti​ple li​qui​di​ty feed ma​na​ge​ment, di​ffe​rent ma​r​gin ca​lcu​la​tion types and other use​ful options?

8. Does the pla​tfo​rm have a vi​b​rant and live​ly co​mmu​ni​ty?

Last but not lea​st, does your pla​tfo​rm offer a su​ppo​rt co​mmu​ni​ty of other tra​ders for your clien​ts to take part in? Sha​ring pla​tfo​rm advi​ce and ana​lyzing ma​r​ket oppo​r​tu​ni​ties to​ge​ther goes a long way in ma​king your tra​ders feel invo​lved in the tra​ding pro​ce​ss and is a fun and easy aspe​ct to pro​mo​te.

We at Spo​twa​re’s cT​ra​der wo​r​ked hard to crea​te our own co​mmu​ni​ty envi​ron​ment, and en​cou​ra​ge you to take a look at our Fo​rum and Te​le​g​ram chan​ne​ls to observe just how much su​ppo​rt our tra​ders are ge​tting from the pla​tfo​rm and one ano​ther on dai​ly ba​sis

Add​re​ss the que​stions above and take the time to pick out exa​ctly the ri​g​ht pla​tfo​rm for you, as it is one of the most impo​r​tant pa​r​ts to your offe​ring - a key to sta​rt your own bro​ke​ra​ge and a ma​jor de​ter​mi​nant of your tra​ders’ sa​ti​sfa​ction, and hen​ce your reve​nue!

In fact, at Spo​twa​re we aim to ma​xi​mi​ze the sa​ti​sfa​ction of both tra​ders and their bro​kers, whi​ch is why our an​swer to every one of the que​stions you’ve en​coun​te​red here is “Yes”.

Want to find out more about ope​ning your bro​ke​ra​ge? Get in tou​ch with our team to​day!

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